Can the SanDisk Sansa Clip+ really compete with the bigger manufacturers such as Apple with their iPod range?

This is the next in a line of smaller MP3 players created by SanDisk; this is an updated version of the previous version which was the Sansa Clip.

SanDisk as a company have been producing various types of memory product for many years and are synonymous with memory cards and USB storage devices. Ever since their first attempt at an MP3 player they have improved on design and quality and here at tracyandmatt.co.uk we’ve reviewed every model in the Sansa range in the past and have been generally impressed with what they have to offer and their value for money. Each new model and version has provided more features and has been a light improvement over the previous.

So does the Clip+ continue this tradition or can it no longer compete? Read on to find out.

On the front of the device are a set of buttons that include a Home button, next and previous buttons and a Sub menu button for accessing the options menu whilst listening to music.

The power button of this device is on the top and is a push button; the button is well placed as it is not in the way of any of the connections or other buttons on the device.

There is a MiniUSB connection on the left side of the player, this is a sturdy and well placed connection as again it does not interfere with anything, the way that it is placed also makes it simple to connect to a PC for sync or charge purposes.

On the right side of the device is a MicroSD connection for extra storage, also on this side is the earphone/headphone socket.

On the rear is the clip as shown below:

Finally on the bottom of the device there is not really anything to see as shown below

Highlights

Fantastic sound

Very lightweight

FM Radio

Simple Design

Simple user interface

more than enough storage for its price

Clear voice recording via built in microphone

Lowlights

Takes time to load files from MicroSD

Screen a little small

Only charges via USB Sync charge cable

Review

I have been using the Sansa Clip+ for just over a week now and I can honestly say that I am impressed by this little device; I was a little surprised at how small the device was when I first opened the packaging but did grow into the fact that it was so small after a couple of days of listening to music on it. To put files onto the device it has a simple drag and drop feature which is really efficient and can be done in a matter of minutes.

I am very impressed by the sheer quality of the sound on this device, it matches if not beats my iPod classic for sound quality; I liked the fact that the sound could be user defined, I could create my own custom equalizer which to be honest blew me away when I turned all of the options up to full, this was made to be a better experience by the provided earphones being of great quality.

One other good little feature that I found to be useful was the voice recording with the built in microphone, one example of how good this feature is, is when I simply left the player around a metre away from the television and when I listened back to the recording it was as clear as if the player was next to it. As well as the voice recording being so good the FM radio on the Sansa Clip+ is a neat feature and it was a nice change to see that it was simple to find radio stations in my area.

One of the main selling points of this little device is the fact that its menu system is so simple to use, but at first glance the main thing that I noticed was that the clip on the rear of the device was close to the size of the device itself which means that it is simple to attach to clothing if required.

This device is of very good quality but there are a couple of issues that I found with it which became quite an annoyance after a while, the main one was when I put a MicroSD card into the built in slot on the device, and when I tried to play the files from the card it took at least 4-5 minutes before it had even loaded anything for me to look at.

Another of the issues that I found was not with the device itself but it was with the provided quick start guide, my issue was with the amount of different languages that SanDisk placed on every page so that it made it difficult to understand the instructions clearly enough.

The final issue that I had with this device was the Micro USB cable that is provided is not at all large enough for the user to be happy with, it is no more than 6 inches long which when connected to a computer for sync/charge purposes the device is at an acute angle which could cause problems for the user and it could damage the device; there is however a good point to state about the USB cable, it is USB 2.0 the newest version and when the device is connected to a computer it does charge very quickly.

Conclusion

To conclude my review of the Sansa Clip+ I would like to say that I love this little device and would honestly like to recommend it to anyone who has not owned an MP3 player before or to someone who would like something a little different to what they’ve had previously, all in all I think that this device surprised me in almost every way and it was certainly a lot better than I expected it to be, which definitely includes its retail price as it is great value for money.